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The Mantle
"Ruthless, aggressive warmongers." -''Nobody'' 'The Mantle' The Mantle is an intergalactic empire stretching many systems that took the metaphorical throne from the Militia in the grand scheme of things. Due to minimal contact with officials of The Mantle, it is still shrouded in mystery regarding anything with it's government. It is considered to be the technological leader of the universe, and Mantle technology is being scrapped and recycled by the Militia to produce new weapons and mechs, notably the Ranger. History Before leading the universe in almost every aspect, the Mantle was a presumably not minor, but still mediocre nation, living in the shadow of the Militia until it took a militaristic turn, taking advantage of the pacifist nature held by the Militia. Pre-war knowledge about the Mantle is minimal, other than it was most probably not as developed as the Militia. The War For unknown reasons, but most likely territorial expansion, the Mantle declared war on the Militia, destroying the nation in a bloody war leaving the remnants and remains scattered across systems, numbering only in the hundreds now. The Mantle overlooked this small resistance for a short period until Militia activity was becoming a problem, and sent several Mantle troops through dropships, the majority of which were killed by the Militia forces on Ground Zero. The Mantle then sent a larger, more concentrated force, and were met with equal resistance, in which the Militia triumphed over them, and gained knowledge of a facility buried deep underground. The Facility After locating the rough location of the facility, the Militia began digging deep in a cavern to find it, and inside they found several glowing liquids. The Mantle, accompanied with their new spiders, began attacking the Militia inside the facility in swarms, coming wave after wave, but the Militia, as it always had, endured and achieved victory over the Mantle, before retreating through the SS Equinox. Attack on the Lunar Encampment After triumphing over the Militia with their spiders on Ground Zero Encampment, the Mantle tracked down Militia activity to the Lunar Encampment. They sent dropships containing hundreds of Mantle scouts in the pitch dark, and the cruiser holding the dropship bays crashing into the moon, giving up classified information to the Militia. The Battle For Vioria After the Militia re-discovered their capital planet, they quickly recolonised it and set up their HQ on the surface of the planet, near a vital resource mining site. The Mantle was informed about this nearly immediately, as the thorn in their side that was the Militia, kept digging deeper. The Mantle sent a fleet to restrict further expansion than the planet, and cruisers & dropships are still presently deploying troops in the area. Recently, the Mantle revealed it's fighters to the Militia, ruthlessly downing several landing craft, but losing a frigate which was captured by the Militia. It is presumed that the Militia will use this frigate to break the blockade, and expand the Militia outward into the Mantle. Mantle Navy The mantle navy is the largest and most staffed branch of the Mantle military, as well as the only encountered one. Currently we know the Mantle navy fleets have 4 classes of long space travel ships: * Capital ships - the pride of fleets, the largest known class, not one has been spotted in the field yet. * Cruiser class - Often accompanied by several fighter wings and a squadron of frigates, these are often found after their defending frigates have been downed, and will appear with a horde of dropships. * frigate class - The frigate is the mascot of the Navy, the most common ship that usually deploys up to 8 dropships and has a fighter wing. It is unknown if this class has turrets, as they have never been fired on the Militia, but it is thought they do as the most common ship. * Dropships - The dropship is the second fastest seen navy vehicle used, can drop 4-8 Mantle scouts or a Mantle tank, and is the parent of the Ranger. It has 3 double barrel turrets, each firing laser weaponry. Mantle Marines/Scouts The marines or scouts are the planetary occupation and garrison troops of the Navy, often deployed on new or unknown worlds to clear them out, and are the primary infantry division seen fighting the Militia. They have a repeating laser rifle that seems to have no magazine, have white uniforms, and white and blue helmets that alienate them. The scouts display minimal strategic intelligence, and will only attack Militia troops if they approach too near. Generally they head towards or land at major Militia outposts, such as the spaceport, the mines, or the mud plains. They are hostile towards crawlers, and may sometimes deploy alongside a hover tank. Mantle Knights The knights are the most elite and powerful troops seen by the Militia so far, they are equipped with the same helmet as Marines, have higher speed, perception, and strategic intelligence, and seem to either appear by themselves, or in a small fire team. They can be identified by their small numbers, high powered laser rifles, more extravagant clothing, and their more aggressive behaviour. Knights are only deployed in the most necessary circumstances, and will try to sabotage Militia objectives. Mantle Armed Forces The Mantle Armed Forces are the least known branch of the Mantle military, and have only appeared through the use of their hover-tanks, but it is thought they equal the Navy's size in Mantle space. Hover Tanks Hover tanks are the primary vehicle used by Mantle Armed Forces, and are relatively beefy, with a one barrel turret that fires high explosive rounds that can instantly kill a human, as well as a laser machine gun of sorts. They are found accompanying Marines and will only appear through a dropship. Mantle Airforce The Mantle Airforce is the smallest branch of the Mantle military and has the highest death rate among any branch, their fighters being very quickly taken down by land troops. They have only been seen operating the standard Mantle fighters so far, but are expected to make more appearances in different types of fighters, potentially bombers. Fighters The fighters are the only source of the Mantle Airforce we have, and are around the length of a Mantle dropship, but about a fifth of the height, are very versatile, and are equipped with dual missiles and will only appear in wings of around 7 or 8 fighters.